that the day or not. today they heard arguments in fisher versus university of texas, a case that asks if race ought to be considered in college admissions. the case was filed by a white woman who claims she was discriminated against when she applied to the school. >> we've recognized that there are some interests in diversity that are beneficial in the educational sphere, but we have said and we continue to say that is not an overriding consideration that has to be administered very narrowly -- consideration. that has to be administered very narrowly because it's a dangerous classification. >> our peggy fox spent the day at a local university talking to students about this case looking at what the ruling could mean to them. >> my roommate is latina from mention coach the. >> reporter: coming to arlington's marymount was a culture shot for kirby markovich. >> i come from a very small

town. come to marymount i file i've learned just as much from -- i feel i've learned just as much from my peers as very in class. >> reporter: another student from nicaragua. >> i did want to experience diversity on campus and see people from different cultures. i think affirmative action is good. >> reporter: she thinks her ethnicity may have helped her get into college, but she does not believe it was the only factor. marymount has a race blind admissions process meaning there's no race box to check, but chris domes, vice president of student development and enrollment, says they do actively recruit minority students. >> so we're going to schools that have large minority populations, hispanic and african american populations and we are constantly making sure that those groups of students are working their way through our admissions procedure. >> reporter: if the supreme court reverses course, marymount university may not have to follow the ruling because it's a private university, but if they did, people here think it would make

for a less rich learning environment. >> since marymount is so diverse, i think it really enhances our campus. one, we are a small campus, so the fact that i know people from all over the world really makes my college experience that much better. >> reporter: in arlington peggy fox, 9 news now. >> marymount says it is one of the most diverse schools in the entire region. we've got new information tonight as we track the movements of a sexual predator in fairfax county so you can protect yourself and your family. police say a woman claims she was fondled by a man between september 9th and 13th along cumberland drive near dinwiddie street in springfield, the sixth one in the area since the beginning of september with this serial fondler. he's hit .333 in the big leagues and launches this one to the left, morse going back, look it up and it's gone! >> and that three-run home run at the top of the 2nd pretty much told the tale for the

nats. the team fell to the cardinals 8-0 to give st. louis a 2-1 lead in the national league division series. we've got team coverage of the game tonight. kristen berset will have all of your highlights a little later in sports and bruce johnson is taking a look at the politics around tickets to the game, but we begin with matt jablow live outside nationals park with some fans. matt? >> reporter: guys, pick your favorite adjective for a thorough thumping. they all apply to the game today. indeed the nats were badly beaten by the cardinals in game four and not surprisingly after the game nats fans were not the slightest bit happy. >> they had nothing. they had nothing today, but it's still a cool atmosphere. >> reporter: do you still have hope? >> yes, i do because there's two more games and we need to win them both and we're capable of doing so. >> reporter: but a disappointing game today? >> disappointment today but not the end of the world.

>> first two innings really pumped up and wish things could have been different, but hopefully next game will be better. >> reporter: do you think it will be? >> i think. so i don't think the nats want to go out on a bad note like this. >> reporter: from his lips to the baseball gods' ears, let's hope for a different result when the two teams play back here at nats park tomorrow afternoon. guys, back to you in the studio. >> fingers crossed. thank you. a d.c. councilman is defending his decision to suspend an important hearing today so he, staff members and others, could attend the afternoon nats game. bruce johnson with that story and more and how the elected city leaders chose between work, play and free tickets. >> reporter: you might recall a few years ago then mayor adrian fenty and council fighting over the lerner family tickets provided for the elected officials, but those days apparently are now over.

somewhere in the masses today headed to nationals park was d.c. councilman jack evans. >> we have great day in the city's history, the first playoff game here. >> reporter: a veteran d.c. lawmaker was able to get to the ballpark because he suspended a scheduled hearing inside council chambers on problems at d.c. tax. the plan was to resume the hearing later after the day. how attentive would you have been sitting in a hearing while the game was going on? >> i would have been very attentive, but i can't say that for the rest of my colleagues and media, so i wanted to accommodate them. >> it's the first time in 79 years our baseball team has been in postseason play. >> reporter: the nats owners offered two free tickets to mayor gray for the game today. he said he'll only use one. >> i will go to the game with my son and pay for his ticket. i'm going because i'm representing the city today. >> i think it's completely appropriate that the nationals offered tickets to the mayor and council charity. >> reporter: d.c. council chairman phil mendelson was

also offer -- council chair. >> reporter: d.c. council chairman phil mendelson was also offered a ticket, but a busy hearing schedule prevented phil mendelson from going. >> i have two meetings and my schedule doesn't permit me to go. >> it's a historic day for the city. everybody wants to be part of it. >> reporter: jack evans is chairman of the council's finance and revenue committee. he tells me if the nats make it to the world series and face the yankees, each home playoff game could add another million dollars to the city's treasury. this is bruce johnson reporting from nats park, back to you. >> heavy stuff. we checked a short time ago and councilman jack evans hearing on tax issues did resume shortly after 5:00 after the game. coming up in sports kristen berset lets us know what davey johnson and jayson werth think of today's game, such as it was, and she looks ahead to tonight's game three for the orioles. >> tonight on your only local 7:00 news, americans will be spending a lot of cash on halloween, but on not what you

think. it's not candy and it's not costumes, at least not the ones you're thinking about. we'll have the story at 7:00. >> that's a tease, d, see you at 7:00. still to come in this half hour metro is used to busy days. you'll find out how the transit system wants to cash in on one of the busiest. >> top? >> let's talk about the baseball forecast tomorrow. either a 4:00 or 5:00 game depending on what the tigers do tonight, either way mostly sunny, upper 50s to low 60s. you will need a jacket tomorrow at the game. bright but brisk. we'll come back, talk about the end of the week and look ahead to the weekend, lots going on. >> but first hailing a cab in any big city is a challenge, but now d.c. is becoming the first place in the u.s. to use technology that's already a huge hit overseas. we'll explain how it works.

hailing a cab in d.c. is sometimes easier said than done, but don't worry. there's now an app for that. today marked the launch of the my taxi service in the city and you use it on your phone. here's how it works. drivers can sign up to take part in the service. once you sign in to say you need a cab it uses gps to find the closest one to you and sends it your way. at the end of the ride you can pay using paypal or a preloaded credit card on your account. to learn more go to our website

www.wusa9.com. white is topping the list of most popular car colors this year. the annual survey by an automotive paint supplier finds that 22% of the cars and trucks built for model year 2012 have white paint. silver vehicles account for 20%. black, gray and red round out the top five. > a woman dying of cancer is hoping her story about the tsa prevents other people from going through the same thing. michelle denage has leukemia and packs a lot of prescription drugs for what she's calling her end of life trip to hawaii. she went through security in seattle last week and then she said everything nt wrong. a machine couldn't get a read on one of her saline bags and an agent contaminated it trying to check it. then another agent made her lift her shirt and pull back bandages right at the checkpoint despite her request for a private screening. the tsa says it's not agency

policy to deny any requests for private screenings but has not commented specifically on this woman's claim. still ahead ads, ads everywhere ads, a look at just how much some groups are willing to spend to try to win your vote this november.

we've got breaking news now out of northeast washington where a man was shot and killed less than a block off eighth street. you're looking at the scene right now. this happened in the 1100 block of eighth street. so far police say they have no suspects. they have no motive in this case, but again a lot of police out there investigating this particular case where a man was shot and killed less than a block off eighth street. as we get more information, we'll, of course, provide it to you. plenty of cash being thrown around for various candidates and causes in campaign 2012. in maryland one issue is setting records with those trying to sway your vote. >> reporter: i'm bruce leshan. is a casino more important than a governor? gambling interests have now spent more money trying to influence maryland voters than was spent in the 2006 governors

race, a record almost $36 million. >> their dishonest as are everywhere. >> reporter: even the politicians -- ads are everywhere. >> reporter: even the politicians are sick of it. >> they drive me nuts. i want to hear about the ballgames. >> reporter: penn national which owns a casino in west virginia has spent $21.6 million to defeat plans for expanded gaming in maryland. >> question 7 will create 12,000 jobs. >> reporter: mgm, caesar's and owners of national harbor have spent almost $18 million to convince voters they're going to build. las vegas on the potomac. all that spending seems to work. in ohio penn national spent $12 million more than its rivals and won. bruce leshan, 9 news now. support for another issue on maryland's november ballot

landed the chief diversity officer at gallaudet university on leave. the school's president says by signing a petition opposing the legalization of same sex marriage angela mccaskill participated in a legislative initiative that some people is inappropriate. mccaskill lives in maryland. she is not commenting about her placement on leave tonight. tomorrow vice president joe biden and paul ryan take their turn to duke it out in the debate arena. starting at 9:00 usa today reporters will be live blogging about what the candidates say. you can see that live on www.wusa9.com and participate in the conversation via facebook and twitter. so make sure your television is turned to channel 9 to watch the debate which starts at 9:00 and then log onto www.wusa9.com, then join derek and anita at 11:00 as they fact check what the candidates say with the usa today fact checking team. metro can be crowded enough on a day like today when the nats play, but what about the

inauguration? yes, time to talk about that, too. the transit agency is expecting record crowds and it hopes to cash in big time. according to the washington examiner, tomorrow metro will ask its board of directors to let it charge peak fares and full parking fees january 21st, even though next year's inauguration falls on a federal holiday. it also wants to sell a $15 commemorative day pass. now to something a little bizarre on the eastern shore, our sister paper the daily times out in salisbury reports a teenager was in a horseback riding lesson last night when she was hit in the head by a foot long piece of raw chicken. oh. casey bernard says the meat just fell from the sky. officials from a nearby tyson food processing plant say hey, we didn't have anything to do with it, but scientists say seagulls have been known to steal piece says of chicken from the plant. the virginia department of environmental quality says it plans to investigate.

>> epic food droppings from the sky. >> food long raw on your head, that's just gross. >> you know what i would do? i'd go play the lottery because the odds of that happening. >> how often is that going to happen? >> i'd give that a shot. >> why not? >> at least she had a hat on for riding. >> it wasn't edible like it was fried chicken you could take a bite of it. >> no, no, raw. we are looking at an average day 71 today, 71 our average high, a little bit cooler tomorrow and friday but still a fantastic finish to the week. let's start with live look outside. this is our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. you're looking at all the construction up around tysons, good times, good times, nothing like good times, 68 now, some clouds moved in, a cold front pushing through but no worries. winds are turning west, southwest at 9 and will become northwesterly shortly and breezy tonight, pressure on the rise, 29.90 inches. mercury.

temperatures, still 66 in rockville, 64 in vienna and fairfax. we're looking at 65 in oldtown, 58 in college park, 64 in bowie. so fine fall weather, a bit chilly tonight. in fact, our coolest night in some time. you'll need your shades tomorrow, pure sun tomorrow, cooler thursday. you'll need a jacket for the nats game and i think i'd keep a jacket handy all day. the kids will need a sweat shirt or jacket at the bus stop. clear, breezy, chilly tonight, windows orientation 38 to 40 weight, winds turning north -- windows open, 38 to 48, winds turning northwest tonight. now tomorrow morning mostly sunny, a chilly start. grab a jacket. 40s and 50s, winds calming down, northwest at 10. by afternoon a very nice day, mostly sunny, cooler, yes, but pleasant, high temperatures between 60 and 65. next three days we'll keep it code green and why not?

63 tomorrow, cooler but nice, great on friday, 67, mostly sunny on saturday, fantastic, temperatures in the low 70s. next season days i'm going to still go 80 sunday. i think it will be extremely warm, ravens and redskins at home playing, just a great weekend, at least upper 70s anyway. some showers monday, temperatures in the mid-70s and still warm tuesday and wednesday with highs in the low to mid-70s. i got to light the night saturday night at the plaza. >> for the leukemia lymphoma society and you're doing it as well? >> we had great weather last weekend and this weekend, too. good stuff. pay lot of people didn't get to go to the -- a lot of people didn't get to go to the nats game. we'll tell you what happened. we'll be back in a moment.

and now 9 sports with kristen berset. >> reporter: welcome back. we are life at nationals park. game three is over -- live at nationals park. game three is over and the nationals find themselves in one of the most undesirable positions right now, one win and they're done, brink of else on this historic postseason ride. it will be over if they can't get a win tomorrow. let's look at today's game, a sea of red on capitol street today. the nats set a new attendance record at nats park, natitude in full force, but the 45,000

fans didn't get what they came to see. top of the 2nd pete kozma a three-run blast off edwin jackson put the cards up 4-0. same score in the 5th with the nats having a chance to get back in it. two out for michael morse. the nationals strand 11 baserunners today. top of the 7th, garcia on relief adding insult to injury and walks in a run as the nats are crushed and shut out by the cardinals in game three 8-0. >> i take nothing for granted. we're not out of this by a long shot. you have to get a few key hits in the ballgame tomorrow. we're right back in it. >> we've been a really good team all year. we've got one game to may tomorrow, one game to win. you can't look at it any different way. >> we've got a good group of guys here. there's no doubt we believe in ourselves. it's about coming out and doing the job tomorrow. >> reporter: the cardinals chris carpenter pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings allowing seven hits and bryce harper

falls to 1-15 battingwise in the playoffs. the baltimore orioles in the bronx tonight for game three against the yankees. miguel gonzalez on the mound for the birds. they're hoping to avoid the same fate as the nationals. >> games are different. they're obviously different. we played one game already this year since the finale and i think the way our guys responded in that game, you know, was something i was very proud of. >> reporter: now to the redskins, they returned to the practice field today prepping for their big showdown sunday afternoon against minnesota and there was a much welcomed sight on the practice field. robert griffin, iii returned to practice today after suffering that concussion sunday against atlanta, but he hasn't been cleared yet for contact. however, the skins expect him to practice fully by friday. robert griffin, iii said he felt great, no real lasting effects from the hit.

>> i ran out of bounds today in practice and i imitated a slide and got a huge cheer from the team. so it's just something i have to make myself aware of it. >> i'll be surprised if he's not on the field sunday, but at the same time we have a great quarterback. so i have complete faith in him. we'll have to play regardless. >> now it's time to reveal. >> our latest game of the week poll. here's a look at your five choices, a big rivalry between beleau and anacostia today. go to the website to vote. >> some big games, bethesda, chevy chase. >> a little technical problem there. that's why kristen is not there at the end, but you'll see her back at 11:00. >> that's it for us. the cbs evening news is next.

>> good night, everybody.